“We have been, and typically when you come out of a recession the depth that we were in…it takes a while to dig out of that hole,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs, the former White House press secretary, said November’s election will be about “two different visions”: Mitt Romney’s conviction about giving tax cuts to the wealthy, or Obama wanting to grow the economy “from the middle class out.”

“We have to grow this economy like we did for years and years and decades from the middle class out,” he said. “Let’s continue to add opportunity, let’s bring this American dream back, let’s guarantee that if you work hard and play by the rules, you will have a chance to get ahead, that your children will have a chance to get ahead.”